Attorneys

William J. Flynn

Will Flynn has a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco, a masters degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and earned his law degree in 1980 from U.C. Berkeley (Boalt Hall). At Boalt he was appointed to the Order of the Coif and was Articles Editor of the Industrial Relations Law Journal. Prior to law school he was an active member of International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union Local 6.

Will joined the firm in 1981 and became a partner in 1986. He works with a variety of the firm’s labor clients, providing representation in such areas as labor arbitration, collective bargaining negotiations and appearances before administrative agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Public Employment Relations Board.

He has developed a specialty representing employees and unions in the transit industry. He also teaches Labor Studies at Laney College in Oakland. As such, he is a member of the Peralta Federation of Teachers. He serves on the Board of Directors of Market Street Railway, a non-profit group interested in historic transit in San Francisco.

Richard K. Grosboll

Dick specializes in employee benefits law and works for the firm’s pension, health and welfare, apprenticeship, and other trust clients. He has represented Taft-Hartley employee benefit trusts for almost 34 years. In prior years he served as the Co-Chair of the Welfare Benefits Section of the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Employee Benefits Committee and for several years spoke at the annual ABA Employee Benefits Conference. In the 1990’s he was an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University School of law, teaching employee benefits from a labor law perspective. Dick also taught an ERISA class at Hastings College of the Law from 2013-2016. During law school, he worked as a law clerk for California Supreme Court Justice Mathew Tobriner, the founder of this firm. He also clerked for the Department of Labor’s ERISA Division in San Francisco.

Dick has been active in the San Francisco community and with non-profit entities, having served on numerous boards and committees. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (serving as President of the Board during 2015-2016). He also serves on the Board of Directors and is a former President of the Board of a homeless support group (North Beach Citizens) and for many years served on the Board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (having served as its Chair of the Board for four years).

Previously, he served on the San Francisco Traffic and Parking Commission (appointed by the Mayor), including serving as Chair of that Commission. He also served on the Mayor’s Committee on Commissions and on San Francisco’s Charter Reform Committee. He served for three years on the Board of the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation (legal aid for low-income people) and served as a Law Mentor at Mission High School in San Francisco.

Benjamin K. Lunch

Ben Lunch received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1998, and a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2006. He started working at the firm in 2004 as a law student, and has been at the firm since 2006 as an attorney. He became a partner in 2013. He represents labor unions, labor-management trust funds, and has been heavily involved in the firm’s wage and hour class action practice.

Working in concert with several unions, Ben was instrumental in securing over $25 million for unpaid meal and rest periods for transit industry employees. He has represented labor unions in arbitrations as well as in proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and Public Employment Relations Board. He has represented the firm’s clients in numerous court proceedings, including arguing before the California Court of Appeal.

In 2009, Ben tried a case that resulted in a determination that the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act could be used to recover unpaid wages owed to aggrieved employees. He has also provided representation in contract negotiations with the City and County of San Francisco, recently completing successful negotiations between Transport Workers Union Local 200 and San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA).

Lois H. Chang

Lois H. Chang received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2007. A native of New York, she moved to San Francisco where she attended Golden Gate University School of law and received her Juris Doctorate in 2011. During law school, she was President of the Women’s Law Association, served as student liaison for the National Association of Women Judges Conference, and received the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in Labor and Employment Law.

Lois practices union-side labor law specializing in employee benefits law, including Taft-Hartley Trust Funds. Lois' expertise is in the Affordable Care Act and other areas of Federal law relating to employee benefit plans. She also does ERISA collection work and litigation for union trust funds. Prior to joining the firm, she worked for the United States Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration in San Francisco. Lois has also been a contributing author to the Employee Benefits Law supplement for the Employee Benefits Committee of the Labor and Employment Section of the American Bar Association. Lois is also a member of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee and volunteer attorney for the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Volunteer Legal Services Program.

Tanisha M. Arata

Tanisha Arata has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley and earned her law degree from Santa Clara University, School of Law in 2011.

At Santa Clara Law, she was placed on the dean’s list and graduated at the top of her class. In her final year of law school, Tanisha was appointed to Santa Clara Law Review’s editorial board after serving as an associate editor on both Law Review and the High Technology Law Journal.

While studying at Santa Clara Law, Tanisha interned under some of the nation’s top lawyers whose missions included furthering justice and liberty for historically disenfranchised and powerless groups. Among the list of organizations are the Northern California Innocence Project, the Department of Health and Human Services at the Deputy City Attorney’s Office for the City and County of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.

While working in these organizations, Tanisha refined a robust set of legal scaffolding skills. These skills allow her to see the big picture and employ intellectual creativity to see opportunities and potential problem stories on the horizon.

Tanisha joined Neyhart Law as an Associate Attorney in 2017 with a focus on ERISA Trust Fund Litigation. She enjoys spending her time hiking with family and friends.

Mark H. Lipton (1946-2018)

(Of Counsel) Mark Lipton graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and earned his law degree from U.C. Berkeley (Boalt Hall). He was admitted to practice law in the State of California in 1972, in Nevada in 2003 and in the Northern District of Florida Federal Court in 2012. He practiced employee benefit law for over 40 years, specifically Social Security Disability and Taft-Hartley/ERISA, representing benefit plans and individuals. For many years, Mark was a speaker at International Foundation of Employee Benefits conferences and has written articles for their Journal on varied topics including disability benefits, pension plan mergers, fiduciary duty and prohibited transactions as well as workers compensation alternate dispute resolution programs. While semi-retired, Mark was associated with the firm on an “Of Counsel” basis. He represented apprentice training funds and the largest private workers compensation alternate dispute resolution program in California. Mark passed away in late 2018.